BJP fires fresh salvo at opposition over Sanatan Dharma row

BJP president J.P. Nadda on September 12 led a fresh charge against the INDIA bloc parties (referred to by the BJP as INDI Alliance), alleging that these parties were targeting “Sanatan Dharma” as part of their vote-bank politics. BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad in turn termed “shameful” Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray’s apprehension of a “Godhra-like incident” during the inauguration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, scheduled for January next year.

Mr. Nadda’s remarks come on the heels of continuous statements by government ministers on the issue, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s advice to his Council of Ministers that the remarks made by DMK leaders Udhayanidhi Stalin, A. Raja et al needed to be responded to “properly”.

On Tuesday, Mr. Nadda addressed the remarks by another DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Minister K. Ponmudy that the INDIA bloc was forged as an “opposition to Sanatan ideology.”